About Dominique Blain

Since the 1980s, mixed-media artist Dominique Blain has been presenting photographs, videos, installations, sculptures, and site-specific projects, through which she addresses the seemingly unending history of war, exploitation, and imperialism. “People often ask why I, a white North American woman from Montreal, get involved when I have no experience of war,” she says. “The question surprises me, because I’m in a position to take a stand. […] I try to do visual work with the simplest of forms, so it’s accessible to everyone.” Blain works largely with archival photographs and objects, which she combines and alters with striking directness. The many forms of human exploitation recur throughout her work. In Blue Ballgown (2000), she presents a ball gown made out of layers of dirt-stained overalls, reminding viewers that antebellum luxury was founded on the backs of enslaved human beings.